Negaunee, Michigan – October 7th, 2016 – Gridirons turn to battle fields when the Ishpeming Hematites and the Negaunee Miners meet. This rivalry is notorious for hard fought battles, and Friday night was no different. The Hematites entered the game with a 3-2 record while Negaunee entered unbeaten at 6-0.
Negaunee did not waste any time getting things going. Just under 4 minutes gone in the first quarter, the Miners capped off a 6 play, 64-yard drive with a Neal Violetta 5-yard touchdown run. The Hematites relied on their stingy defense until they were able to score with just under a minute gone in the second quarter. Isaac Olson scored from 1-yard out and a successful two-point conversion gave the Hematites an 8-7 lead.
The two teams spent the remainder of the half trading blows like heavy-weight boxers in a title fight.
Negaunee took the lead on a Brock Aho 3-yard touchdown run. Ishpeming answered back with a touchdown pass from Donald Denofre to Daren Giuchin with 39 seconds left until halftime. The Hematites took a 16-13 lead into the intermission.
The Hematites offense could not duplicate the success of the first half after halftime. The Hematites failed to score in the second half, and the Miners capitalized. Negaunee took the lead on a Neal Violetta 10-yard touchdown run to give the Miners a 21-16 lead. Negaunee then sealed the game in the fourth quarter on a Brock Aho touchdown pass to Eric Hurst.
With the loss, the Hematites drop to 3-3 on the season. Ishpeming will host St. Ignace next week. The Honor Credit Union pregame show will begin at 6:20pm with kickoff set for 7:00pm on 98.3 WRUP and on WRUP.com.
LISTEN – FULL GAME – Negaunee defeats Ishpeming 28-16
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